Gympie's house price growth among the state's strongest

Real Estate Institute of Queensland Communications Manager Felicity Moore said Gympie's improvements were "impressive”.

House prices in Gympie have shown strong growth in the past 12 months. Picture: Kevin Farmer

GYMPIE'S residential real estate growth in the past year ranked among the strongest in the state, according to the Queensland Market Monitor.

The sales market for houses less than 2,400 square metres in the Gympie Local Government Area tallied an annual median sale figure of $285,000 on 621 total sales as at December 2017, up a whopping 5.6% on last year's rate, and 7.5% up from the figures of five years ago.

The Gympie township itself saw growth at 5.7% and 10.2% respectively, with Cooloola Cove and Curra also registering positive developments from the same geographical category.

Real Estate Institute of Queensland Communications Manager Felicity Moore said Gympie's improvements were "impressive".

"The Gympie market has had a particularly good year in residential real estate sales," Ms Moore said.

"This compares very favourably with the Brisbane median house price growth of 2.6 per cent.

"Gympie's median house price growth over 2017 has been among the strongest in the state."

Ms Moore said it was "important to remember" Gympie's rates had come off "a very small base".

"There were 621 sales for the year in Gympie in 2017, which compares with 14,000 sales in Brisbane for the same period," she said.

Ms Moore pointed to housing affordability as another of the perks for the region.

"Gympie has a median house price of $285,000 which is one of the most affordable regions in the state.

"The median weekly income in Gympie is $939 and the median monthly mortgage repayment is $1300, [so it's] very affordable.

"There is no concern that this region will become unaffordable.

"There are plenty of opportunities for first home buyers to get into the market.

"This result from 2017 is evidence that the Gympie market has had a good year and owner occupiers and investors can be more confident that their investment will grow in value, thus building their personal wealth."

While Gympie's population decreased by 0.7% last year, it still grew 26.5% from 2006 to 2016 according to the ABS.

Ms Moore said this was another reason for the house price rise, as increases tend to occur when "supply doesn't keep up with demand."

The state population increased by more than 80,000 residents throughout the year, with the Gold and Sunshine Coasts named the powerhouse performers on the state market according to the Market Monitor.

More information is available online at the official REIQ website.